LIVE: Jack Savoretti at O2 Academy Oxford (21/10/15)

Last night I went to my 50th show of the year, seeing the absolutely phenomenal Jack Savoretti and his equally talented band (Pedro Vito on guitar, Jesper Lind on drums, John Bird Jr. on bass and Henry Bowers-Broadbent on piano) down the road at Oxford's O2 Academy. The set showcased much of Jack's record Written In Scars, which was released earlier in the year (check out my post about his brilliant instore at HMV Oxford St back in Feb), alongside tracks from his third album, Before The Storm and a few other tracks, including new songs from the re-release of his latest record - the heartbreaking Catapult and incredibly catchy Back Where I Belong.

Though not necessarily playing a set to 'warm up' the crowd, support Max Jury showcased his talent and set the tone of the evening, with his chilling vocals and carefully crafted lyrics. Considering how disrespectful the crowd were (typical of this kind of gig and venue) talking over him, I think he played a great set!

Playing for around 90 minutes, Jack and his band blew my socks off - it was the first time I'd seen him play a proper show and my hopes were well and truly surpassed! Highlights of the set for me were one of my favourite tracks of his, The Other Side Of Love (video above), and a solo performance of his stunning cover of a relatively unknown Bob Dylan track, Nobody 'Cept You. After perusing the merch stand (and parting with some of my student loan... shh) I decided to wait outside to try and meet Jack, and when he came out, he was such a gent, remembering me from when we'd met before and saying how great it was to see me again. I'm not lying when I say he's one of the most talented people I've had the pleasure of seeing live - if you get the chance to see him live (sadly his UK tour finished tonight), definitely take it up, but for now take a listen to the re-released version of his latest record, Written In Scars.

LISTEN: The Hoosiers - 'The Secret Service'

As someone without musical talents, I feel far more comfortable writing posts that I can refer to as recommendations, as I feel I've little right to explicitly review and criticise music. I mostly write about the music I have discovered myself and as such my posts are usually particularly personal, perhaps none more so than this, about a band who I am particularly passionate about!

Last night I had the fantastic opportunity to see The Hoosiers play a small, free show in Banbury, just a £4 return train trip away from Oxford! Train delays on the way there and the fact that the set was a pretty late one (so I had to rush to catch the last train after) aside, I had such a great night (and can't wait to see them again tomorrow night in Southampton at Engine Rooms.)

The band are a few dates into a UK tour in support of their recently released fourth album, The Secret Service. Featuring four tracks already released through recent EPs, the album is in my opinion a huge triumph. It showcases a really refreshing and broad range of tracks, from the fun The Wheels Fell Off and The Most Peculiar Day Of Your Life, the chilling Dancers In The Dark and (Don't Make) Eye Contact, to a particular favourite of mine, the incredibly catchy I Will Be King. 

Album art for The Secret Service

Starting with a fairly upbeat track reflective of their hit singles, Pristine, the album contrastingly finishes with a beautiful acoustic song (My) Secret Service, with drummer Alphonso Sharland on some cracking lead vocals. Much of the record reflects this stripped back track, as a lot of the album was recorded live. Unlike so many albums that you hear, where you can't help but be skeptical of how far the production process has taken the track, and whether the band could ever reach that level of perfection in a live performance - these songs feel authentic and this gives them quite passionate, heartfelt roots, which also comes across in the lyrics.

Releasing the record independently allowed the band creative freedom to produce music that they enjoy writing and performing - which comes across in the tracks, but also as a fan is reaffirming in that they'll carry on playing while they're enjoying it! Often the pressures that come in hand with a major record deal to produce commercial music can hinder the creative process and, I imagine, make it far less fun! 

Personally I'm really proud of the band for this record, it feels fairly grown up (they've even, funnily, got an explicit track on the record) whilst simultaneously sticking with the fun and catchy nature of the tracks that shot the band to fame all those years ago (the likes of Worried About Ray and Goodbye Mr. A). I'd hugely recommend giving it a listen! You can find out more about the record and order a copy on CD/Vinyl (releasing 30th October), and look at the band's remaining tour dates including London's The Borderline this Wednesday 21st October (sadly a gig clash for me but very much looking forward to seeing Jack Savoretti that evening!) here on the band's website.

LIVE: Little Mammoths at The Borderline (14/10/15)

Last night I trekked across to London to see Little Mammoths, a rock band fronted by Matt Owens (bassist of Noah & The Whale). Though I've seen Matt playing shows to support his solo record a lot over the past year I'd never seen them before and wasn't really sure what to expect. After a nightmare travelling to Oxford St due to a couple of road closures, I actually arrived just as the first support band came on stage.

Tom Figgins and his band were up next and put on a great show as usual, contending with a pretty talkative crowd but giving it their all nonetheless. With recent support from BBC Radio 2 and Chris Evans, Tom seems to finally be breaking through and I'd really recommend checking out his latest single, Giants Played In Woods Like These (official video) with which he closed the set - a great performance.

Tom Figgins 

Performing as an eight piece band (that to my surprise actually managed to all fit on stage) comprising of Matt and Tom on guitars, George Leigh on slide guitar, Oliver Cox on bass, James Besley on drums, Fred Abbott on keys and Nick Etwell and Dave Williamson (who play trumpet and trombone for Mumford & Sons), the show represented the first time that everyone who played on the upcoming Little Mammoths record played a show together under the moniker. They brought their unique style of rock and it was clear that the band was having as great a time as the packed out audience, ignoring the set times a little to play a couple of extra songs (who cares that there's a DJ set afterwards?!) as the crowd were left wanting more! Their set comprised of a lot of tracks from the upcoming record which is likely to be finished in 4 weeks or so - look out for a review once its ready! I really enjoyed the set and, reflective of Matt's solo record, the tracks all felt really personal in their lyrics, a highlight was one that I think was called 'Hometown', which was particularly poignant for the band having just finished a Scottish tour and returning to the London crowd, full of friends and family of the band.

Little Mammoths

WATCH: The Hoosiers 'Up To No Good for SPG TV

October is looking fairly busy for me and this week is no exception with 4 or 5 gigs in the pipeline. Two of those are my favourite band The Hoosiers (of Goodbye Mr A fame) at a local Oxfordshire show in Banbury on Friday and Southampton on Sunday. The band just released their latest album, The Secret Service, on Friday, following the release of two EPs which featured a few of the album tracks. A particular favourite track of mine is the title track of the second EP, Up To No Good, which in my opinion is one of the band's best tracks - loving this new acoustic session of the track for Student Pocket Guide. 

The Hoosiers have just started their UK tour, dates and tickets here including a show at London's intimate The Borderline.

LIVE: My week in gigs (5th - 11th October)

Last week saw my gig tally for the year reach 45 as I took in three shows, first Oxford Sofar Sounds, then Festifeel, and Everything Everything at Under The Bridge.

Always a pleasure to attend and to photograph, this month's Sofar Sounds show in Oxford was a wonderful evening of live music and brilliant company. Held in a primary school hall just out of central Oxford that the team managed to make feel really special - we had Lail Arad, Hattie Briggs and Òkina, alongside Adam Barnes (the first act I've seen at a Sofar show that I've been a fan of beforehand - really loved getting to see him play again, he and his band are incredible artists) and Chris Ayer, who has been playing alongside Adam on his UK tour. Some of my shots from the evening are in the Flickr album below - take a look!

If you're interested in attending a Sofar Sounds show in Oxford (or closer to you - they're held in around 160 cities) get more information and sign up to be informed of shows here, they're really special nights and I'd definitely recommend it!

The second gig of the weekend was Festifeel, a festival curated by Fearne Cotton and in aid of CoppaFeel! (info), a breast cancer awareness charity which has a focus upon encouraging young girls to check their breasts regularly, promoting early detection of the cancer. The festival was held at House Of Vans in London, where I spent a fairly chilled out afternoon with one of my flatmates watching a documentary about the charity's founder, Kris, who discovered she had breast cancer too late and set up the charity to promote awareness - seeing her around on the day was pretty inspiring. We also saw some live comedy and watched some other festival attendees learning to skate, before getting into the midst of the crowd and catching sets from Lucy Rose, Slaves and Everything Everything. Whilst the crowd was quite the opposite of the seated and captive audience of Thursday's Sofar show, and minutes in I was soaked with beer, and being shoved around during Slaves set (hadn't listened to them before but was impressed and knew to expect a rough crowd..) it was a fun evening and Everything Everything blew me away, cue some terrible quality phone photos..

Lucy Rose

Slaves

Everything Everything

On Sunday evening I was lucky enough to see Everything Everything again at an intimate and free show for Q Awards at Under The Bridge, a really lovely venue with great sound snuck away under  Chelsea's Stamford Bridge. Playing a slightly longer set than Saturday night's festival set, and even coming out for an unplanned encore of first album track My Kz, Ur Bf - it was clear that the band were having as great a time as the audience, all beaming with pride to hear the audience singing back tracks from all three of their albums (no mean feat as their lyrics are inherently difficult to grasp.) I've been listening to them for a couple of years now and loved their second record, Arc, but I believe their latest record Get To Heaven is probably one of the top five albums I've ever heard. You can vote for it in the Q Awards category for best album here. 

Up close and personal with Everything Everything last night.

Overall a really fun week of shows, looking forward to seeing The Hoosiers twice this week as well as (as long as I don't get inundated with university work..) Little Mammoths, Frances and Oxjam in Reading or Oxford on Saturday!

LISTEN: Foreign Affairs 'You Said To Me' for Breast Cancer Care

As a small blog submissions aren't regular but it is always great to get music sent to listen to via email, and this new track from Foreign Affairs is no exception. The band is a trio with two brothers,  Adam and Lawrence Purnell, and bassist Ben Sweeney. My path crossed with Adam a few years ago when he was playing shows alongside Sam Beeton A talented artist in his own right, Adam and his brother started the folk-rock band in 2012, and have recently released their debut album, The First.

The band's new track, entitled You Said To Me, is great musically, but more-so, its heart-wrenching lyrics take the fore, inspired by the brother's experiences, here explained by Adam:

"Just over four years ago our mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, which came as a huge shock to our family; we'd always heard of stories but never really thought it would happen to our mum. After a mastectomy and numerous rounds of chemotherapy, the strength and determination that our mum showed and still shows on a daily basis to fight the disease inspired us to write a song about our family's experience."

Hear a little more from the band in this interview, in which you can hear the track in the background, too.

The band's bassist has shockingly had a similar experience, with his mother also being previously diagnosed with breast cancer. Though the track was written by Lawrence predominantly for his mother, the track has now taken on a life of its own - the band contacted Breast Cancer Care and the track has just been released through the charity as part of its campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As the leading charity for the support of women with breast cancer, the charity does great work and the proceeds from sales of the track will all go towards the charity, helping them to continue with this work. 

You can download the track here, and find out more about the charity on its website here.

WATCH: Jack Savoretti - 'Back Where I Belong'

I'm loving this new video from Jack Savoretti for his recent single Back Where I Belong, taken from the recent re-release of his album Written In Scars. The video shows footage of Jack and his band from over summer, at various festivals and shows around the world. He's just started a UK tour which sees him play The Roundhouse in London a week today on the 15th October - I can't wait to see him playing at the O2 Academy Oxford.

For more info on the new edition of the record, go to his website here, and tour dates/tickets for the remaining shows are here (get in quick as many are sold out!) 

LISTEN: Half Moon Run - 'I Can't Figure Out What's Going On'

With their album coming out in just over two weeks, Half Moon Run have premiered the studio version of another track from it, following Trust, Turn Your Love and Hands In The Garden. This new track is I Can't Figure Out What's Going On (handily shortened to 'Figure Out' on the setlist from a recent show I saw them at in London. I recall this being a highlight of the set at the show - and alongside the other new tracks, it is giving me pretty high hopes of the upcoming record Sun Leads Me On, the follow up to their stunning debut record, Dark Eyes.

The album is out 23rd October, more info on the band's site here. 

ALBUM NEWS: King Charles - 'Gamble For A Rose'

Stop what you're doing because Monday just got pretty exciting... King Charles has this morning announced details of his second album, entitled Gamble For A Rose. It's going to be released through Buffalo Gang, via Kobalt, on 22nd January 2016, just under four years since his first record, LoveBlood, was released.

With a great track listing featuring a number of old and updated tracks, including a new version of Lady Of The River that I'm particularly excited to hear a studio recording of, the album looks set to be a stunning collection of music and worth the long wait since Charles' first record. You can listen to the first track from the album, Loose Change for the Boatman, above, and download it for FREE here. Having heard the track live a few times this year I'm personally loving the studio version, and particularly loving the prominence of the strings in the track, which, along with the rest of the record, was produced by Mumford & Son's Marcus Mumford. As a first single from the record, the track is really strong and gives a good indication of what to expect from the rest of the record!

Album artwork for King Charles' new album, source: https://www.facebook.com/KingCharlesOfficial

The track listing for Gamble For A Rose is as follows:

Loose Change for the Boatman

Animal Desires

Choke

Gamble for a Rose

Lady of the River
St Peter's Gate
Tomorrow's Fool
New Orleans
Carry Me Away
Bright Thing
In Silhoutte
Coco Chitty

For more info and for links to pre-order the album on signed CD, signed vinyl or iTunes, go here.

LIVE: Adam Barnes at Arts at the Old Fire Station (1/10/15)

Yesterday I went to my 41st (!) gig of the year, Adam Barnes at Arts at the Old Fire Station in Oxford, a hometown, sold out show to mark the start of his UK tour with American soloist Chris Ayer supporting. The tour is to promote Adam's recently released EP One Day We'll Be Fine, which I recently wrote a post on - read that here and you can listen to the EP via iTunes, Spotfiy etc as well as physical CD's on Adam's website.

Adam Barnes at The Old Fire Station

The show last night, in a theatre setting, was a really cosy evening of beautiful live music, set up perfectly by Chris Ayer's support set, which was extended as the local support had to pull out of the show. Setting the tone for the evening, Chris' tracks were mostly pretty emotional - but who doesn't enjoy a bit of depressing acoustic music? 

A particular highlight of the show (for many, probably) was the crowd, who were really respectful and quiet throughout both sets, getting to sing along to Adam's cover of Britney Spears' Hit Me Baby One More Time. Video, complete with cheesy lighting and high pitched singing-along here. The video below is the lead single of the new EP, I Can't Love You Anymore. What was great about the performance was that it sounded really true to the EP, which is so well produced as to keep Adam's vocals as the main focus - which, in an intimate theatre venue with a quiet crowd, was the case for the performance. Overall a night of wonderful company, beautiful harmonies from Adam and his band, and some really talented artists.

Adam plays Norwich tonight - the rest of the UK tour dates and ticket links for the shows, including a show at London's The Social on Wednesday (which unfortunately clashes with the Bake Off final!) are here.